Latino Daily News

WikiLeaks on Mexico: Mexicans Paying High Price for Drug War and U.S. not Confident it Can be Won

WikiLeaks has released more cables as they relate to Mexico and its ongoing drug war. The cables show the U.S. not as positive as it publicly states, that Mexico is winning its war against the cartels and lays the blame for this on the country’s ineptitude, corruption, weak judicial and the enormity of the problem.

In addition, the U.S. fears that the Mexican citizens are losing their appetite for the battle and as a result the crack down on cartels probably will not be a priority for the next Mexican President.

“We have 18 months,” Geronimo Gutierrez, former Mexico’s under-secretary of the interior, wrote, “And if we do not produce a tangible success that is recognizable to the Mexican people, it will be difficult to sustain this confrontation into the next administration.”

In contrast, at least two cables praise the Mexican government for its “unprecedented commitment” to take on the drugs gangs; one cable dated January of this year and a second from October 2009, praise president Felipe Calderón’s tenacity in his campaign to face “head on” the powerful cartels that move most of the cocaine, heroin and marijuana that reaches the U.S.

President Caderon’s office said it had seen the leaked cables, but State Department cables in general “reflect the day-to-day” analysis of their neighbor and accurately portray the damage the drug war is having:

“It is damaging Mexico’s reputation, hurting foreign investment, and leading to a sense of government impotence.”